Pear Almond Bread- Good for Dessert

pear almond bread (photo by jhy)

You will need:

1 1/2 c. chopped pears (about 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1 c. sugar OR 1/2 c sugar and 1/2 c sugar substitute
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 2 eggs OR 1/2 c Egg Beaters™
• 1/2 c. plain lowfat yogurt
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 t. almond extract
• 1 1/2 c. white flour
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• 1/2 c. sliced or slivered almonds
• 1/2 t. grated lemon peel

a medium bowl measuring cups & spoons spoons, fork, whisk, scraper 9 x 5 inch (or equivalent) loaf pan wax paper shortening to grease pan This is one of our very favorite quick breads and it uses quite a few pears. The pears remain in chunks throughout the bread after baking, so it is very moist. In fact, it will begin to mold in about an instant, so it's good to either eat it right away or freeze. More on that at the end. Combine the sugar (and substitute), oil and yogurt in a bowl and beat or whisk. Add eggs (or substitute) one at a time and beat well after each. Mix in the extracts. Add dry ingredients (sift if you want, but I never do) and mix. Add pears, almonds, and lemon peel (you can leave this out) and mix thoroughly. Prepare loaf pan by greasing the inside, line long sides and bottom with a length of wax paper, and grease the paper. This bread really likes to stick to the pan, so it's worth it to take time to do this.

pear almond bread batter in lined loaf pan (photo by jhy)

Spoon into loaf pan, and level somewhat. Bake 1 hour at 350 F. Cool slightly, then remove from pan to complete cooling. I slice this into 16 slices, and with the healthier substitutes, each slice is about 185 calories. It's a fairly sweet bread, because pears are just very sweet, so we like to eat it as a dessert. Because it molds so fast, I slice it, accordion fold a strip of wax paper between the slices, and freeze it in double bags or a bag and container. Then it's easy to pull out one slice at a time. I actually like to eat it when it's still partially frozen. Yummy! Excellent with coffee or tea which balances the sweetness somewhat.